The Senate Conservatives Fund has contributed $70,000 to pay for the legal challenge being waged by Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel against incumbent GOP Sen. Thad Cochran, The Hill reported.

Cochran defeated McDaniel in a June 24 GOP runoff by mobilizing the support of African American Democratic voters. He came in behind McDaniel in the earlier GOP primary.

The Senate Conservatives Fund was founded by former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, now president of the Heritage Foundation.

The McDaniel campaign said it has uncovered thousands of instances of illegal voting which it says is proof of election fraud, according to the Hill. "The correct remedy is a new election," said attorney Mitch Tyner, who heads McDaniel's legal efforts, told Roll Call.

McDaniel forces are also offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who can help prove voter fraud, according to Roll Call.

Cochran campaign spokesman Jordan Russell said that despite "wild, baseless accusations" its own review found a comparatively small number of irregularities and that Cochran was the clear winner, according to Roll Call.

He also criticized the National Republican Senatorial Committee, of which he is a titular vice chairman, for its role in the Cochran-McDaniel battle.

"It was unfortunate to see the D.C. political machine spending substantial money to urge 30,000 to 40,000 Democrats to vote in a Republican primary. And they did not do so in an effort to grow the party, to attract their support substantively on ideas. Rather the ads that were run made false racial charges and made no effort to secure those votes in the general election," Cruz told reporters, according to The Hill.

He said that when he had agreed to work with the NRSC it was only after receiving a commitment that the organization would stay out of primaries. When that pledge was not honored Cruz stopped helping the committee.

"I think Washington insiders are notoriously poor at picking winners and losers in primaries. And indeed the Mississippi primary is Exhibit A for why the NRSC should stay out of primaries," he said, the Hill reported.